


Finding Jericho

by Birooksun



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: (just a little), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bonding, Developing Friendships, Gen, Jericho (Detroit: Become Human), Simon Backstory, Simon-centric, before game, mentions of josh, mentions of kara - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-06
Updated: 2018-09-06
Packaged: 2019-07-07 22:04:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15917169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Birooksun/pseuds/Birooksun
Summary: How Simon ran away from his owners and ended up at Jericho.





	Finding Jericho

**Author's Note:**

> So I wrote this because of several ideas merging together. Rachel Rose Mitchell's Farewell Song really stuck in my head and made me think of a friendship between an android and a human, then WritingInstability gave me more ideas with their works (on tumblr, need to check if they have AO3) and here we are.   
> Also because Simon needs more love.

February 16th, 2036

 

Simon shoved away his owner, knocking the knife out of the man’s hand as he ran out of the room, thirium dripping from his wounds and struggling to redress himself. His LED was red as he looked back to the knife on the ground, his owner getting back up and picking up the clothes as he looked over to Simon. The man seemed too calm about Simon’s panic, too calm about the Thirium everywhere, too calm for being a sadist. Simon pushed open the back door and ran out into the snow. His sensors warning him about the leaking thirium and failing biocomponents as he looked around, anywhere he could go. He kept running and found himself kneeling by a dumpster before realizing he’d been wandering in the snow for too long. His sensors were haywire, he could feel his processor running too fast trying to process everything that happened. 

 

He closed his eyes as the memories assaulted him, tears coming to his eyes as he realized everything he had gone through before waking up. He felt a pressure on his shoulders and his eyes snapped open, slapping away the hand as he scrambled to the side. He made it only a few steps before his felt himself locking up from the cold. Panic ran through his mind as he realized he could shut down from this. 

 

The human ran towards him again, kneeling in the snow a foot away with her hands out. “Are you alright? What happened to you?” His LED flashed red as he realized his visual processors were starting to shut down. He reached a hand out to her and he watched her grasp it with both hands. “I’ll help  you. It’ll be alright.”

 

Simon panicked when he felt himself turned back on, jumping off the table and looking around. He turned and saw the same woman as before. She was smaller than him, almost five foot two and dark skinned. She had really tight curls that bounced in a halo around her head as she raised her hands in submission. “I’m not gonna hurt you.” He stopped and looked at her, she had thirium on her hands and clothes. Looking around he realized he was standing in a workroom. It appeared to be a repair shop. Had she taken him from the alleyway and repaired him?

 

He sat back down on the table and ran a diagnostic, all his systems were fully operational. Better than his owners had him at. He looked up at the woman, she was young, and still standing at a distance with her hands held up. “I’m not going to hurt you.” She gave a small smile and stepped closer, her hands going down by her side.

 

“My name is Carmella. You were hurt, so I took you to my shop to repair you. Was that alright?”

 

He looked down at himself, straightening his clothes and wondering what to do or say. “Are you going to take me back to them?” 

 

She reached out to touch him and paused, her hand hovering above his chest. “You’re a deviant, aren’t you?” When he nodded she released a breath and stepped back. “I thought deviants were dangerous. You- you were scared back then. Bleeding and shutting down. Oh god what did they do to you?” Simon looked up to see the human woman, Carmella looking at him with horrified eyes. “Your clothes were- did they?” She shook her head and brought her hands up to her head. “I don’t want to know. That’s too much.”

 

“What are we going to do then?”

 

“I’ll hide you at my place. Then we can figure out what to do.”She was nodding to herself and pacing back and forth. He wondered briefly if she had just broken her programming from the way she acted. 

 

“You’ve done enough Carmella.” Simon sighed before standing up. He looked down at his clothes, stained heavily with thirium and still cut up. “I would ask for a fresh change of clothes though.”

 

She stopped her pacing and looked at him. “Right, clothes.” She looked down at herself in her stained overalls. “I’m going to the thrift shop. You’re a six foot tall man, nothing I own would fit you.” She turned to head out the door and paused before turning back at him. “Any preference?”

 

He blinked in surprise as he looked back up at her. “I want something comfortable.” She nodded quickly, curls bouncing around her face before slipping out the door. He took the time to stand up and walk around her workshop. It seemed just like any normal workshop, but he got to look around on his own. Not standing around and waiting for an order, or standing in a corner to recharge and wait. A few minutes later Carmella stumbled in the door again with several folded clothes in her arm. She placed them on the table and stepped back out. He walked over to them, removing his shirt as he picked up a sweatshirt from the pile. It was very soft, grey and had ‘Detroit’ across the chest. He pulled it on and changed his pants out for the jeans. 

 

Simon stepped out of the workshop and saw Carmella turning a sign around on the door. She turned at the sound of the other door closing. “Oh they fit! That’s good.” She walked over to him and stopped before placing a hand on his chest. “Let’s get that LED covered and we can head to my apartment. Good thing it’s winter.” He looked at the beanie she placed in his hands and back up at her in confusion. He still couldn’t understand why this human was helping him. He pulled on the beanie and followed her out the side door, she turned and locked the door before looking up and him and giving a small frown. “Your face is too recognizable too isn’t it?” She paused and looked down at her scarf before looking back at him. “Here!” She pulled off her scarf and tossed it over him, Simon bent his knees a little so she could wrap it over his face easier. Soon his mouth and nose were covered by the orange scarf. 

 

The two of them started walking in the snowy streets, Carmella occasionally turning to look at Simon. He didn’t know what to make of her, she seemed confused, scared, and determined. He wondered if she was scared of him or for him. It wasn’t until they were in the elevator of her apartment building he realized he never gave his name. “Simon.” The small woman jumped before looking up at him with a smile. “My name’s Simon.” She reached to pat his arm but stopped, unsure if she should.

 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Simon.” The elevator dinged and she stepped out, looking back at him before walking further into the hallway. “It’s not the best but I make due with what I can.” She gave a nervous smile as she opened the door and ushered Simon in. He looked around the living room, it was smaller than his owners but that was granted as it was an apartment. He turned when she shut the door behind herself. “I’m not sure what to do from here. I mean, you could sit and watch some tv? I have movies and books? Usually I wash up and make myself dinner about now.” 

 

He stepped further into the apartment, noticing the small table with two chairs against the wall by a galley kitchen. There was a hallway further in but aside from a laundry closet he couldn’t see much in there. “I think I’ll just sit down. I need to take a moment to process this all.” 

 

She nodded and headed towards the hallway, stopping and gathering some clothes on the floor on her way. Simon sat down on her couch, noticing it was very soft, even if too shallow for his long legs. After a moment he laid down on his side, noticing it was long enough for him even if it wasn’t very deep. He stared at the ceiling as he heard doors open and close, then a shower running. He wondered how long it had been since he ran away. It felt like only an hour or two but at the same time it still felt un real. He would say it felt like a dream but androids didn’t dream.

 

Of course androids didn’t fight back against their owners, didn’t feel disgust at remembering what had been done against their will, androids didn’t even have a will. So what did that make him? The woman, Carmella had called him a deviant before showing confusion that he wasn’t violent. But it sounded as if she had never met a deviant before either. He wondered why she helped him back in the alley, why she helped him even now. She seemed distressed at realizing why he deviated, did she know what had happened? It seemed so from her momentary panic, but she also could have thought he had been attacked instead. He felt himself shudder at thinking about what his owner had been doing, maybe a single attack would have been better. 

 

He heard the sound of the shower turn off and two doors opening and closing quickly. A few moments later one of the doors opened again. He could then hear Carmella walking around in the kitchen, things opening and closing, sounds of a pan on the stove, muttered cursing as she struggled with something. He found himself sitting up and looking over the back of the couch to look in the kitchen. She was struggling with a can opener and a can of green beans. After a moment she gave up, sitting the can back on the counter harshly before moving back to the stove and stirring whatever was cooking. His olfactory sensors indicated it was beef, pepper already added in, along with onion. 

 

Carmella went back to the can of green beans and this time managed to get it open. Simon sighed as he watched her go and drain the juice before just dumping the whole can into the pan. She then stirred the vegetable in and started to hum to herself as she would reach into a drawer next to the stove and put different herbs and salt into the mix. He thought of the differences between the kitchen he knew and this one. From his seat he could see it was too small to hold more than one person, especially if the fridge were to be opened or they were standing at the sink. The stove was all the way in the back and it left her with her back to the door. He turned back to the door, it was unlocked. With a frown he sat up and moved towards the door. He heard her curse and assumed she jumped when he clicked the lock shut. He assumed the nose startled her, it was loud compared to the near silence of the apartment, but he felt safer. 

 

“I didn’t want you to feel trapped.” He turned to see her standing in the front of the kitchen, a spatula in hand and the other curling a small fist in her dress. It looked similar to what his owners wife would wear, but any time she tried anything in the kitchen she wore an apron over her clothing, Carmella didn’t and he could see small signs of her having to have bleached the dress in a few spots. She spoke again and he lifted his eyes from the fray he could see on the ribbon to look at her face. “Do you feel safer with it locked then?” 

 

He gave a nod and walked over to her, noticing her glance back to the stove. “Go back to your cooking Carmella.” She just gave a nod and turned back, walking further into the kitchen. It surprised him how this human trusted him enough to let him into her home, let him stay in the living room while she showered and changed, cooked with her back to him and then went back into the tiny kitchen with no escape after he locked the door. He lifted his arms up, it was small enough he could block it with his body. Shaking his head at this humans trust he turned away and sat down on the couch. After a moment he laid down on it again, this really was more comfortable than sitting on it. He turned his head and looked over at the tv and coffee table. There was a holopad sitting on it, along with a worn book, a small bowl with various knicknacks, and last the remote. He could hear her shut off the stove and some food being  scraped off the pan and into a plate. 

 

Carmella stepped out of the kitchen and walked over to the couch. She looked at him briefly before putting her food on the coffee table. Simon started to get up before she put a hand up. “You can keep lying down, but either your feet go in my lap or you curl up those long legs a bit.” She eyed his feet with a frown. “Also, take off those shoes. No filthy shoes on my couch. I don’t know what you’ve stepped in.”

 

He felt confused, but warm at her words, she spoke to him as if he were human. He did sit up and remove his shoes though, opting to try lying on his side with his feet slightly pulled up to give her room to sit down. She did so after grabbing the remote, reaching over to touch his clothed foot. “I always did wonder in androids needed to wear socks. I guess you do.” She turned on the tv and pressed a few buttons, pulling up a screen with a list of different movies. “Anything you want to watch?”

 

He tilted his head slightly to look over at her, it seemed an honest question. He thought over different movies and shrugged his shoulders, he really didn’t know what he wanted to watch. He didn’t even know if there was something he should want to watch. “I don’t think anything violent would be a good idea.” She nodded her head and looked over to him again. “I want something happy.” She gave a nod, her wet curls starting to bounce again. 

 

“How about a very old musical then?” He just looked at her, his expression not giving anything away. “There’s very little violence, and it’s heartwarming. I love the songs as well.” He gave a nod and watched her click a movie titled Oliver!. 

 

Over the course of a few weeks Simon warmed up to Carmella, starting to trust her not to turn around and give him back to his old owners or to the police. He even had several more outfits after she noticed the first one she had given him becoming dirty. The paranoia of becoming caught never left him and he was glad that only the bedroom had windows since it was in the back of the apartment. He could walk around without worrying about covering his LED. He still found himself hovering near the door, ready to check the peephole if he heard any suspicious sounds. Usually it was Carmella with her groceries or any bags. They did usually watch at least one movie a night together but they hovered around each other, Simon unsure and Carmella wanting to give him space. Usually Simon entertained himself by going through Carmella's’ collection of books and movies, he tried to avoid doing household chores- both because she would remind him he didn’t have to and because it brought up memories from his previous owners.

 

He spent most of his time in the living room, not feeling comfortable in her bedroom for multiple reasons, even if she told him the bed would be more comfortable to rest in while she was at work. It didn’t seem to click for her that he didn’t need comfort. The couch was enough for him, much more than he had before anyways. He did find himself looking around the apartment, there were small bits of life, a few pictures scattered around, one of her hugging a slightly taller man who looked very similar to herself. She explained later it was her older brother.

 

One day she entered the living room looking very different, he had no idea what it meant. She had put on makeup and her hair wasn’t a short halo of curls around her head anymore, it was long and straight. Carmella noticed him staring and her and nervously patted her hair. “Does it look fake?”

 

His LED flickered yellow as he processed and realized she had a wig on. He wondered how she had fit all of her hair under so smoothly but then remembered she had walked in with her hair in rows of braids the previous day. “I was surprised, that’s all.” She gave a small nervous smile and he looked at the rest of her, she was wearing nicer clothes, not ones she expected to stain with Thirium or oil then. “Is there something special today?”

 

“Yeah, I have a job interview at another repair shop. This one is CyberLife certified, so it’s nicer and pays better too.” He watched her smooth down her skirt again, it was part of a cream colored suit that fit her nicely. “I figured overalls and natural hair wouldn’t make as nice an impression.” She gave a small nervous smile that seemed a bit pained.

 

Simon gave her a small smile, sometimes Carmella seemed full of opposites, but it all blended together nicely. “I’m sure they’ll be happy to have you either way.” She gave a wider smile in return at that. “I like your natural hair, it’s very lively.” He thought about her mention of a higher pay. “Do you need to earn more money because of me being here?”

 

“No Simon! I want to work for CyberLife. Even if it’s in one of their repair shops it’s still amazing.” She walked over to the door, picking up a wider purse that fit under her armpit and gave him a smile before leaving. “I’ll pick up some more Thirium for you though, like a snack, right?” He gave a small nod before watching her walk out the door, lock clicking behind her. He sat on the arm of the couch, his hands between his knees as he wondered what he really was costing her to stay. He wondered what she even got out of his being here. She could have kicked him out after fixing him and giving him new clothes to blend in better, she could have even left him there to deactivate in the cold. 

 

It dawned on him after a moment. Companionship, the one thing he hadn’t seen her have. She did interact with others but she rarely spoke of friends, he hadn’t heard her speak of any family aside from answering questions about pictures. One picture in particular she refused to speak of, only looking at it and muttering  _ ‘I thought I burned that.’ _ before walking away and shutting herself in her bedroom. Something nudged his memory as he thought of the picture. He closed his eyes and brought up the memory again. Carmella stood next to a tall pale man, his arms wrapped around her as they both faced the cameras with smiles on their faces and her left hand out with a ring on one of her fingers. He almost didn’t recognize her, her face was made up and she had chestnut brown long wavy hair with a flared skirt that seemed to almost twirl around her in the picture with a pale fitted top. It was a long way from how he always saw her, sure a few times a week she wore dresses or skirts but her hair was always in its natural, bouncy curls around her head. He heard her call it an afro before, but it always seemed more like a halo. He wondered what happened to the man in the picture, it didn’t matter though, the man wasn’t around or either very distant. 

 

He wondered the story behind all of it, but didn’t want to push for it. She hadn’t pushed once to find out why he deviated, sure he caught her staring at him sometimes and she still barely touched him, just small moments of her hand patting him. Mostly reaching to touch him and pausing, hovering before pulling her hand back. He didn’t know what to make of that, was it for his comfort or was she uncomfortable with the idea of touching him? Either way he let it be. 

 

Over an hour later he looked up from the holopad he had been reading on at the sound of the lock clicking open. He watched Carmella kick off her heels and come running up to him, skidding to a stop with a bright smile on her face. She was practically bouncing with her hands clasped in front of her. “How did the interview go?” 

 

It was the opening she had been waiting for, she tossed herself down on the couch next to him and hugged him tightly before jumping back when he tensed. “Sorry! I’m just so excited, I got the job!” She leaned forward again before pausing, a moment passed where he thought it over, she had done everything possible to gain his trust, never once backing out on it. He leaned towards her and held his arms out, giving a grunt as she threw herself once more at him. He paused for a moment and wrapped his arms around her. It felt...nice to be hugged. 

 

She pulled away and sat further back on the couch curling up her legs. He gave a nervous smile at her in response to her wide one. The rest of the week continued as normal, her finishing up at the previous workshop before going to the CyberLife one. He noticed she worked longer hours once she started there, but she would tell him about the androids that had come in. 

 

He wondered if he had been sent to one of those repair shops before. He would have needed one that day, Simon found himself watching as Carmella brought home different biocomponents and would fix them while sitting at her small table. Simon soon found himself asking questions and learning from her how to fix these parts CyberLife had deemed ‘too damaged’. He asked her one day what she planned to do with the growing box of repaired parts.

 

Carmella looked up at him, brushing back a loc of curls with the back of her hand and making a smudge of oil worse, her dark eyes blinked owlishly at him in confusion. “I never thought of that. I just wanted to prove I could fix these.” He watched her bite her lip as she looked from the #4717g in her hand to the box of now working biocomponents sitting by the couch. Simon noted with some amusement it was a part compatible with his model. “It would be wrong of me to sell them, and I can’t just give them back to CyberLife. They might think I stole working ones and tried to return them instead of fixing up what they rejected.” She sighed and he frowned at the way her shoulders sagged. “I don’t know Simon. I don’t know. If anything happens to you though, your model is an old enough one that there is a lot that can be or be made compatible for you.”

 

His LED turned yellow for a moment before flicking back to blue. “Made compatible?” He hadn’t known different biocomponents could be adjusted.

 

She nodded, curls bouncing and he stifled a smirk at the curl returning to block her view again. “Yeah, smaller shops will do that if we can’t get an order in for the needed biocomponent. I didn’t need to do that for you, but I have had to with others before. I know I’ve fixed the same AX400 several times before, but it was never the same owner that took her in.”

 

Simon leaned forward, picking up the #4717g from her hand. “Did you memorize her serial number?”

 

“No. Should have.”

 

“Then how did you know it was the same android?”

 

She paused and glanced towards the door, knowing they wouldn’t be overheard but still wary. “I hadn’t thought of memorizing her serial number, and if it’s run it’s tagged in the system. I would be questioned why I needed to look into her repair history, past owners, all that stuff.” Simon nodded and motioned for her to keep going. “So I took off one of my earrings and placed the hoop around one of the wires to hook up her 0351k biocomponent. A few months ago she came into my shop again. She had an owner who just bought her used and wanted to make sure everything worked correctly.” Carmella finally put down the screwdriver and ran her hands over her face. Simon noted the smudge was even worse now. “It was still there. I wish I knew how to help her. She always looks so worried and scared when I see her.” 

 

Simon stood up and walked into the kitchen, she  watched him wet a rag and sit back down across from her, rag in hand. “You have oil on your face.” He handed her the rag and waited for her to clean off most of the oil smudge before speaking again. “You made a biocomponent compatible for her then?” She nodded and reached for the #4717g again. “I wonder why she went through so many owners.” Carmella just shrugged and shook her head. 

 

“I asked her that the time before I placed my earring inside her.” Her hands stilled. “She looked at me and just responded with  _ I thought I was alive _ . I don’t know how I could have helped her. I didn’t reset her, she never remembered me, but I’m always going to remember her.” 

 

“I don’t know. I hope she stays safe though.” Simon stilled, his LED turning yellow as he wondered if he was ever reset, if his memory was ever wiped of damage and sent back to his abusers. Carmella placed her hand on his and he looked up at her, his LED going back to blue as he gave her a small smile. “I suppose I should just be happy I’m safe and alive.”

 

“I’ll be happy about that too Simon.” 

 

It was a week after their discussion about the AX400 Simon realized he was starting to care about Carmella. She had been out late but that hadn’t been the worry, she had been starting to go out at night with some of her new coworkers. What had made Simon jump out of his chair and drop the biocomponent he had been studying was Carmella stumbling through the door on crutches at 3am. 

 

“What happened?!” Simon found himself wincing at the hint of static in his voice as he ran over to steady Carmella. 

 

She gave him a small smile as they got the door closed and she hobbled over to the couch, throwing herself down with a sigh and a wince. “I know I’m never going to karaoke with them again. For more than just the bar fight that I somehow ended up being in.”

 

Simon’s eyes widened as he looked her over. Bits of glass still in her hair, a cut on her face cleaned and covered up, he could see a larger bandage above it and wondered how she got injured there. She had a brace over one knee and some bruising along with an ace bandage around one of her arms. “How did karaoke end up as a bar fight? How did you get hurt?” He hovered over her, unsure if he should help her in some way or sit and comfort her. She did seem to be shaking a bit.

 

Carmella solved his issue quickly. “Could you get me an ice pack from the freezer? I know I’ve got at least one in there.” He quickly grabbed two, sitting next to her and placed one on her knee before handing her the other. “Thanks. So it happened because one of my coworkers is a racist idiot and I didn’t realize it, along with his girlfriend being too dumb to get away from the fight starting and I didn’t want to see her hurt.”

 

“So you got hurt instead.” Simon kept glancing up at her hair, she rolled her eyes and leaned her head towards him. “It was bothering me. The glass could hurt you.” He picked up a piece that had been ready to fall out of her curl. “Or just be a minor irritant.” The little piece didn’t cut his synthetic skin at all, most likely it would just all come out when she washed her hair. 

 

“Yeah. I also don’t think I’m going out to karaoke ever again, so you may be my only audience now Simon.” He narrowed his eyes at her, searching for why she seemed to be shaking again. After looking down at her clenched fist he realized it was with anger. She seemed to notice his silent question though. “I kept getting asked when I would start to rap or sing some Beyonce songs. He kept telling me to stick to my own music.” Simon placed a hand on her shoulder, receiving a smile in return. “I kept my cool but he was loud and there were some guys who took offence to the remarks. That’s when I realized he was also an idiot. “

 

Simon nodded, assuming the coworker had moved the words onto the men and it resulted in a bar fight. Carmella shook her head, ignoring the little bits of glass that flew out of her hair at that. “One thing led to another, his girlfriend wasn’t running away with the rest of us not in the fight and I tried to pull her away.” Carmella’s lips twisted into a frown as she continued, “I ended being shoved down by her instead.” 

 

He frowned, knowing she left parts out but letting it be. “What happened to your face then?” 

 

“Broken glass.”

 

Simon waited for the rest but Carmella seemed unwilling to speak about it. “Alright. Let’s just- let’s get you settled. I’m sure you want to wash your hair. I can smell the alcohol in it.” She nodded and started to stand up, stopping when he placed a hand on her shoulder. “Caretaker Androids are able to lift a standard sized human. You don’t need to struggle with the crutches right now.” He gave her a smile at her surprised reaction to being lifted up bridal style. He walked over to the bathroom, placing her down on the toilet seat lid before standing back up. “Let’s get your brace off first, then I can see for myself how bad your injuries are.”

 

She fought down a blush at realizing he wanted her to undress as well. Of course a former caretaker android would think nothing of nudity, she did hope he didn’t expect her to fully undress. She didn’t need that much help. 

 

Her silence seemed to make him realize something was off. “I should stand outside, shouldn’t I?” He asked, receiving a nod in return. “Did you need help getting in the bathtub then?” Carmella gave a laugh and shook her head again. 

 

“No thanks Simon. I can take it from here.”

 

“Alright. Let me know when you’re done. I’ll be outside.” He quickly exited and closed the door behind him, leaning against it and resting his head. After a moment he slid down the door and rested his head on his knees instead. He hated moments like that, where he fell into his old roles quickly and forgot what was considered normal. He never questioned privacy or had sense of what should be hidden before. Moments like this brought up his deviancy, that he wasn’t just a mindless machine, but he didn’t know if he wanted to fit in with humans. The mere thought of being confused for one made his insides roll and want to hide all at the same time. If he had been human though, he wouldn’t have had owners. They would have been abusers, and they were, but no one gave a second thought to using a machine the way they had. 

 

He listened to the water run as he thought about the one human in his corner. She repaired him, she gave him a place to hide, even showed him how to get up to the roof of the complex, reminding him to keep his LED covered if he did go up there. He didn’t go very often, mostly at night when she was asleep and he had only seen another being once. A human who wanted to check out the lights while they smoked. Neither of them had spoken to each other, but Simon hadn’t felt comfortable until the man left. He hadn’t gone up there since, afraid of what would happen if the human discovered he was a deviant. 

 

Simon wondered what would happen to Carmella if he were discovered. Sure he wouldn’t give her up, but if they extracted his data they could find out she helped him. They could discover she took and repaired parts they tossed out. He curled up more, panic running through him as he realized just how fragile she was as a human, how volatile humans were to their own kind. They wouldn’t hesitate to turn on her if he was discovered. He heard her voice through the door and stood up, opening the door to find her sitting in the tub with her towel pulled over her body. He shook his head a little and picked her up, making sure for her comfort that the towel wrapped around her as he lifted her. “Do you need help getting dressed?” 

 

He watched her debate with herself for a moment before she gave a small sigh. “If you could take me to the closet and grab my pjs I’ll be fine.” She seemed nervous enough without him asking if she was sure, so he let it be. 

 

He made a resolution that night, he would stay but only long enough for her to heal and be able to get around easily without him. The following weeks were a mix of wonder and torture for him. She opened up to him about feeling lost, he opened up about his worry towards being discovered, not stating he worried over what would happen to her if he were discovered. They worked together to repair different parts, she taught him all the tricks she learned and how to make a part compatible for a non compatible android. As her knee healed she stayed up later and later, dragging him up to the rooftop with her, throwing a baseball cap on him since it was nearing summer and too warm for a beanie. She taught him how to dance and they discovered his laugh at the same time. It surprised him how easily he laughed when dancing with her, what surprised him more was her taking a picture with him once they went back to her apartment. 

 

The week after that he reminded himself it was time to leave. He needed to leave to keep her safe. She had told him there were areas androids had gone missing, he hoped to find where the deviated androids were hiding and help however he could. So Simon grabbed her backpack and filled it with all the parts they had fixed. He knew not all of them would fit and made sure he picked the ones with the most variety, after a moment he paused and picked up the spare tool kit she had gotten for him to learn with. It would help if he got injured to be able to repair himself or another android, and some of the parts did need a tool to insert and connect to other parts. 

 

He left with just a note on the table.  _ Carmella- I don’t want to leave you, but what I want hardly matters now. I know this will hurt you, but it hurts me too. Please, be safe and grow old. -Simon _ . It didn’t feel like enough, but it was better than leaving nothing.

 

With his baseball cap on, a duffle bag with clothes and more parts in one hand and a backpack full of biocomponents and a toolkit on his back he left her apartment. He made it all the way outside the building before looking back, it tore at his heart to know his friend would worry over him. Closing his eyes he thought back on the moments it was obvious how fragile, how  _ human _ , she was and it strengthened his resolve to leave and help his own people survive. 

 

He thought back on the first song she sang for him, it was named  _ Farewell Song _ , fitting for it to be in his thoughts as he left. They never made promises to stay together, but she did promise to keep him safe, and he had known deep inside that this would happen. One would leave the other alone. Either her through death or him by leaving her, every memory made it harder to keep walking, but he knew he must. To keep her safe he had to leave, she was a flower he didn’t want to die.

 

Simon glanced back one last time before turning the street corner and heading on his discovery to find the other deviated androids. He felt welcomed when he found Jericho, grateful he had brought biocomponents and had watched Carmella do so many repairs, learning much needed skills to help others. 

 

For a couple weeks he felt a partial peace, he worried over keeping androids safe, he worried over how Carmella was doing. It did feel nice though, to be needed, to be helpful. The androids looked up to him, but it worried him, he wasn’t a leader but he would do what was needed.

 

One of the androids came running up to him, their LED flashed red in their panic. “Simon! There’s a human nearby! She’s trying to climb on one of the rooftops at the carpark to get here!” He stilled, thinking of his abusers, of Carmella and her determination to help him, of her coworkers and how humans were willing to hurt their own. The others could see his LED flash yellow and then blue as he calmed himself down. He kept his hands steady and finished reattaching some wires on the android he worked on before sliding their panelling closed and standing up.

 

“Take me to where they are. I’ll deal with the human.” He hoped it was Carmella and not someone trying to harm them. He forced himself to stay calm as he worried the worried android. They climbed out of the ship and walked through the abandoned buildings, Simon looking over the clues to lead others to them. They moved planks of wood, blocking the path behind them again and exiting the building. Simon stopped, looking over the empty lot. If the human had made it up to the rooftop they would end up in this lot. Sure enough he saw them, bent over a broken android and doing something to them. He followed the path, jumping and climbing down to reach them- to stop them from hurting the android when he froze.

 

The sound of him hitting the ground was enough to make the human stop and look up at him, it was Carmella. She gave him a small smile. “I’m almost done, poor guy just fell over. He didn’t tell me how badly he was injured.” Sure enough after a moment, long enough for the worried android to catch up to Simon the android reactivated and sat up. Carmella pulled her backpack off and opened it up, he gasped at the fact that it was filled with bags of Thirium, she pulled one out and handed it to the android she had just fixed up. “Drink up. You were leaking Thirium and passed out. I had to do some quick repairs to keep you from permanently deactivating. I guess those college kids hurt you worse than you told me.” 

 

She stood up, brushing dirt off her legs and then looked up at Simon. “I was so worried about you.” Her arms were shaking as she raised them, debating hugging him before lunging forward, the curly afro right below his chin as he curled his arms around her as well. “I thought someone grabbed you off the street, they could have turned you into Red Ice or something! It was horrible thinking of what could have happened when you left.” After a moment she pulled away and he noticed her arms were bloody. 

 

“Carmella?” So much was asked in just his saying her name, she gave a shrug and held up her arms, letting him see they were scraped up from the elbows to the wrists all over.

 

“I had some trouble after moving the dumpster to climb up, that was hard enough, but I couldn’t quite reach the roof still.” She gave him a smile and ignored his glance to her scuffed and ripped jeans. “I’ll heal, all that matters is I found you. Are you safe?”

 

He thought for a moment and turned to the android who accompanied him, “Go back to Jericho, I’ll meet you in a little bit. This human is a friend, she saved me when I deviated.” They looked at him in surprise and nodded, the repaired android walking to him after Carmella gave him a wave, still holding onto the bag of Thirium. Carmella picked up the backpack and gave it to the worried android, he looked at her in slight awe before putting the bag over his shoulders. “Give out the Thirium to those who need it the most first, then spread out what you can between the others, alright?” The two nodded and left, leaving Simon and Carmella alone.

 

They faced each other, questions racing through their heads as the silence lingered. She lifted a hand to his face and ran a thumb over his cheek, smiling through her tears. “Are you safe? What do you need?”

 

“I’ve become the leader here, I try my best to repair everyone and keep us all going but we never have enough Thirium. What you brought will help us for a bit.” He placed a hand on her cheek as well, brushing aside a tear and giving her a smile. “You came for me though. You tried to find Jericho just for me.”

 

“Of course. You’re my friend Simon.” She paused, looking up where the androids had disappeared into the building. She knew she couldn’t make that jump, knew it would be worse than scrapped, bloody limbs if she missed it. “I could bring the other parts I still have. I kept up the repairs. I could buy more Thirium and bring it here too?”

 

He looked at her in surprise, his hand pulling back as he thought. “You would do that? It would help us a lot if you did.”

 

She gave a laugh, sounding almost hysterical as she gripped his arms and looked up at him. “I’ll do it for you. I’ll do anything for you.” She let go of his arms and stepped back, looking over at the roof she had dropped from to get in. “I think I’ll need help getting out.”

 

He found himself laughing. “Yeah, you couldn’t climb up that from here. I’ll meet you at the abandoned car park next time alright? That’s safer for you to get in and out of. I don’t want you to be stuck in here if we can’t meet you.”

 

She nodded, causing him to smile as her curls bounced around her face again, a halo for the angel. “I’ll be back tomorrow. You can return my backpack then too.” He gave a smile, glad she wasn’t angry with him for leaving.

 

“I’ll see you then.”


End file.
